


The Stars Stay The Same, It's Me Who’s Changed

by Oriki-Miitad (Sneaking_UnicornWitch)



Series: Oriki's Codywan Week 2020 submissions [4]
Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Codywan Week, Force Shenanigans, M/M, Mando'a, Nara's In It, Not Beta Read, Obi-Wan rescues Cody from the Empire, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:13:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25616416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sneaking_UnicornWitch/pseuds/Oriki-Miitad
Summary: He’d awoken alone, save for the one last clinging tendril of the Force. It asked, genderless and ageless, a riot of voices ringing,‘What would you do for him?’He’d replied,“Anything, I’d do anything.”*****Obi-Wan gives himself to the Force on the Death Star. The Force gives him a Chance.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Series: Oriki's Codywan Week 2020 submissions [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1854682
Comments: 8
Kudos: 306
Collections: Codywan Week, Codywanweek 2020





	The Stars Stay The Same, It's Me Who’s Changed

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Codywan Week 2020 day 4. Prompt:Time travel.
> 
> I'm on tumblr [here](https://oriki-miitad.tumblr.com/), come say hi!

Obi-Wan feels a shiver of disgust as he puts on his stolen armour, too white, too shiny. The plastoid was far thinner than it used to be, wouldn’t withstand any meaningful shot, and wasn’t that yet more evidence of the Empire’s lack of regard for their troops. He’d dragged the knocked-out soldier into the storage room of the service engineering bay, where he shouldn’t be disturbed. Honestly, the man should have thanked Obi-Wan - he’d looked like he needed a nap. 

*****

One moment he’d been fighting with Darth Vader on the Death Star. Not Anakin. The man he’d fought was not his brother, his little Ani. Once the rebels were able to get back to the Falcon he’d taken a deep breath, let down his shields, and deactivated his lightsaber. He’d given himself to the Force, and to those who had marched away before. He’d felt the warm pressure of the Force around him, forgotten for so many years, and heard a pounding drum beat of people calling to him as he lost consciousness. 

He’d awoken alone, save for the one last clinging tendril of the Force. It asked, genderless and ageless, a riot of voices ringing,  _ ‘What would you do for him?’  _

He’d replied,  _ “Anything, I’d do anything.” _ And then even that link had gone, sinking into the background. Even here, now, the Force was so quiet. 

A quick glance at a chrono told him he’d lost… almost 20 years. He knew he was on a ship, he could feel the thrum of hyperspace through the floor. By this time he had already been on Tatooine, broken and alone, which meant that the Force had probably put him on this ship because Cody was onboard. However, nothing was exact with the Force, especially not physics breaking time travel. 

*****

Finding a disguise was easy, working out the next part of the plan was decidedly less so. In the back of his mind was a mantra of  _ Cody, Cody, Cody _ , the name he’d not allowed himself to think of in so long. He’d found out about the chips, had learned that his Commander had not willingly ordered him shot down, a decade ago. Apparently the Rebellion had gained some recruits. He’d not asked who, if it had been his Cody he’d have known. But he’d been busy on Tatooine, protecting Luke, and hiding from his fears. 

He makes his way to the bridge, blending in with the other troopers. No need to use notice-me-not, the officers’ glances slide off him regardless. He pauses just outside, ears picking up conversation in the room.

“CC-2224, if your input was required it would have been asked for.”

“Yessir.”

Obi-Wan went to stroke his beard, forgetting that he was wearing a helmet. So, designations rather than names, Cody was not the superior officer, and whoever the SO was clearly had a dislike for him. Cody didn’t feel as sickly in the Force as he had on Utapau, but not his warm dawn either. 

The door swooshes open, a trooper walking past him. Obi-Wan takes a breath and walks in, walking up to the trooper standing next to the Admiral. 

“CC-2224, I’ve a confidential communiqué from CT-7567. Code Red plan, Commander.”

Good soldiers followed orders, Obi-Wan wonders if Cody’s still a good one. He notices a flicker in Cody’s posture at Rex’s designation.

“Very good trooper. Let’s go.”

Obi-Wan expects them to just step out into the corridor, bracing for a fight, but instead Cody is leading them down to the hanger. No one questions them, troopers they meet snap to attention as Cody walks past. Finally Cody stops next to a gunship, between two crates ready for loading. There’s the cog on the side that Obi-Wan has learned to fear. Cody takes off his helmet and Obi-Wan’s heart beats all the faster. Force, he’d missed that face.

“I find it hard to believe that my traitor  _ vod’ika _ is sending me confidential communiqués, trooper. Especially not through… you. So why are you here?”

“It’s too late for me, my dear. But you, I can help.” He replies. Cody’s confusion manifests itself as a small furrow between his eyebrows. “and I’m sorry,” he adds. He bashes his helmeted head against Cody’s unprotected one in a proper Keldabe, knocking him to the ground, out cold. He lifts Cody’s arm, opens a comm channel to medical and talks. 

“I need a medical droid in the hanger bay. Priority One.” He hopes they still use priorities in medbay, otherwise he’s invited a whole different load of trouble. 

“Copy that, CC-2224. CC-6999 is asking if you require a medic?”

He answers in the negative, and soon enough a med droid is whirling towards them. Obi-Wan lumps Cody’s body onto its waiting stretcher and wrangles them all onto the gunship. He leaves the other two in the hold while he heads into the cockpit. He hates flying. They punch out of the hanger bay and he’s plotted in a hyperspace course to Alderaan. Soon, they’ll report the ship missing. Soon, he’ll have to be on the lookout for interceptors. For now, he returns to the droid and his Commander. 

“This clone has a tumour, in his brain. I need you to remove it for me.”

The med droid nods, though bips something in binary about working conditions, and turns to scan his patient. Cody’s still floating below consciousness. Obi-Wan knows he should be up in the cockpit, but he can’t make himself walk away. He takes Cody’s hand, running his thumb over the plastoid hiding knuckles that he knows are scarred and beautiful. 

His reverie is broken by the med droid, who has found the chip. Cody is sedated, and within a couple of minutes Obi-Wan is presented with the physical evidence of the Chancellor’s, the Emperor’s, betrayal. It’s a disgusting thing, but he keeps it. Cody might want to see it. 

He glides the stretcher into the cockpit, still unwilling to leave Cody alone, and watches the blue streaks of star systems fly by. 

Hours later he hears a groan from the stretcher, and he turns to see the clone try to sit up. He doesn’t approach, stays in his seat, waits to see whether it’s Cody or CC-2224 who greets him. 

“You’ve got a really hard head.”

Probably Cody, then. And yes, within the Force is the warm dawn of his - no, he is not  _ his _ \- Cody.

“Apologies, my Commander. I needed you more… compliant than you were at the time.”

“There was no communiqué from Rex, was there? Who are you anyway? Not a  _ vod _ , that’s for sure.”

Definitely Cody. He lets himself feel hope, so used to quashing it down. He’d begun to feel it with Luke, with Han, their small band of rebels, even during the battle with Vader. Obi-Wan lifts off his borrowed helmet, letting Cody see his face for the first time. 

“ _ No, _ ” Cody gasps. “I killed you.”

“Dear one, we both know I’ve survived worse falls than that little tumble.” It was too easy to relax back into their old banter. Obi-Wan sits on the cot next to Cody, hands close but not touching. 

Questions tumble from Cody’s mouth, hows and whys and whens. He stutters and starts a few times, eventually bringing his fingers up to press at Obi-Wan’s grey beard. “You got old.”

Obi-Wan laughs, a small private thing. He’d once been so bothered by his grey hairs, hiding them with dye purchased in secret. Anakin’s ribbing the first time he’d noticed them had been… unpleasant. A lifetime on Tatooine had stopped that habit. 

A chime from the panel brings him back to the pilot’s seat. The clearance codes still work, so word hasn’t travelled that far through the Empire. Then they’re within transmitting distance of Alderaan and Obi-Wan clicks through the frequencies until he finds the one he’s looking for. He sends a quick message of bips and waits for a response. It doesn’t take long.

“How can I help, my friend?” 

“Senator Organa. I’m afraid I need to call in a few favours.” They’re directed to a landing pad, not stopped by any Alderaanian or Imperial security. Bail must still be toeing the line carefully. The Senator is there to meet them, but Breha and their little girl aren’t present. 

“ **You** are meant to be on Tatooine,” Bail calls as he disembarks. “Though, you’re also meant to be younger.”

Obi-Wan chuckles. He shrugs and gestures around. “The Force works in mysterious ways, Senator.”

And then Cody’s walking down to meet them. Bail’s hand moves quickly to where Obi-Wan knows must be a hidden blaster. He puts out a hand. “It’s okay Bail, I had a med droid remove the chip.”

Cody turns, quizzical. “What chip?”

Bail motions for them to follow. “Perhaps we had better have this discussion inside. Please, come with me.”

Cody is angry as he’s told about the chips. Obi-Wan thinks that only most of the anger is focussed on the Chancellor. He’s incandescent as the Senator explains the Empire. The chips had pushed Cody into the back of himself, he’d not been aware of anything that had happened after he’d received his order on Utapau. Obi-Wan feels the anger ebb as he reaches out a hand, rubbing gently on his knee. 

They talk a little about the rebellion, about Ryloth and a host of other little victories, and then Cody asks a question. He asks whether there were any  _ vode _ in the rebellion, whether they’d managed to remove the chips, whether they’d been able to stop them ageing so fast.

“Yes, there are clones with us in the fight against the Empire. Your brother Rex is one of them. We’ve been able to de-chip clones that we find, but there are far more still in service to the Emperor.” Bail explained. He went on. 

“Skirata managed to… liberate… the information on ageing from Kamino. He shared when we asked nicely.” Obi-Wan is sure there was a lot more to that story. “Clones’ telomeres shorten at an accelerated rate. That’s what increases the ageing. A cheap way of speeding up development. But it can be put back to normal.”

Cody’s unscarred eyebrow edges up slightly. “Could… Can… May…” He splutters. Bail must understand what he’s trying to say, because he’s speaking into a comm on the table, requesting a droid be prepped. 

Obi-Wan walks with Cody to the medbay, and it’s only short minutes later that Cody’s had the hypospray that should revert his ageing to something approximating human average. 

As they are thanking the Senator for the hospitality, as if that will ever be enough for the kindness shown, there are quick footsteps running towards them. It’s little Leia, throwing herself into the arms of her father. “Daddy!”

“Obi-Wan, Cody, this is my daughter Leia. Leia, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Commander Cody.”

Cody smiles at the brown haired girl, rosy cheeked and dimpled, before glancing away to Obi-Wan, shocked. Obi-Wan, with an indulgent grin, nods his head. 

“A pleasure to meet you, Princess,” Cody says as he bows low.

“You’re a clone! Like Uncle Rex!” Questions tumble from her mouth. Cody, who had locked tight at Rex’s name, is now desperately trying to answer them quick enough. Obi-Wan feels more alive, more connected, than he has in years, joy surrounding him in the force.

Bail sets Leia down, and steps away. Obi-Wan follows, leaving Cody to field questions solo. 

“You’re not from now, are you?”

Obi-Wan shakes his head. “But I can’t tell you anything. Just… trust in the Force. Trust in your family, your friends, the rebellion.”

“Where will you go?”

“Tatooine. I’m taking him to Tatooine.” Obi-Wan replies. Bail nods, turning to face Cody and Leia. Cody had bent down to the little girl’s height, and was now talking quietly with her. Obi-Wan smiled. He’d always been good with kids. 

They say their farewells to Bail, Breha, and Leia on the gangway of an unmarked civilian vessel, standing in civilian clothes. The rebellion would make use of the Imperial ship, med droid, and armour, of that Obi-Wan had no doubt. 

Once they are in hyperspace again, Obi-Wan sits back and turns to face Cody. “We’re on route to Tatooine. There’s someone who’ll want to see you.”

Cody nods, a short affirmative. “Sir, if I may. Why me?”

“Why would I try to save the one I love from a life of slavery? Why would I come back to put in motion things I couldn’t do at the time? Why would I want my dearheart to be safe?”

Another nod, far slower this time, with eyes that burn. 

“Because I’m selfish, Cody.”

There’s a hand on his shoulder, a hand on his cheek, and he’s not been touched like something worth caring for in so long. Tears slip down his face as Cody comes to stand beside him, pulling him into a hug. He sobs until all that’s left are dry heaves, every loss that he’s faced suddenly bearing down on him. His head is tipped backwards and there’s a faint pressure against his lips. 

“You are many things,  _ ner jetii _ . But you are not selfish.”

He feels a hand rubbing his back and he curls round in the chair. Exhausted from his crying, he falls asleep. 

Obi-Wan awakens to the chime of the proximity alert, letting him know they’re about to come out of hyperspace. They’re not bothered by the Hutts as they enter atmo, and Obi-Wan overrides the controls to set them down far away from the outskirts of Anchorhead. After disembarking, Obi-Wan leads them further away from the settlement, into the desert. His bones tell him there’s no storms rolling their way. 

A few hours of walking, and they come across the banthas. Not far now. His beloved Nara lows as they walk past and he can feel their confusion. He’s Kenobi, ish. 

Soon enough they reach the homestead, and he turns to Cody. “I can’t promise I’ll be glad to see us.” He warns. 

Cody’s expression would be hard to read to almost everyone, but Obi-Wan can see the anticipation rolling up his spine, the anxiety pressing at his forehead. He clasps his hand and knocks their shoulders together. They walk up to the homestead, greeted by a young - so young, had he ever looked that young - man holding a DC-15S Blaster Carbine. 

Obi-Wan watches as he drops the blaster, feet kicking up sand as he runs to meet them. He’s holding Cody tightly, hands roaming his face, feeling out the healed scar from the chip removal. 

It’s then that the younger him turns his head, looks at him, through him, into him. He knows. “The Force works in mysterious ways,” he chuckles. 

Obi-Wan feels the force begin to swirl around him, pulling him away and deeper and home. He walks to where he and his  _ kar _ are still embracing. They open up the hug, warm dawn and purple dusk surrounding him as he feels finally at peace. 

Obi-Wan and Cody are left standing alone in the sand outside the homestead. They knock their foreheads together sharing breath as a voice on the wind calls,

_ “You’ve both been so alone, Obi-Wan.” _

**Author's Note:**

> Most Mando'a is common, only unusual one is still _kar_ , star. Because I'm on brand like that.


End file.
